I don't think the US has more Bullshido but it defenetly has a lot more McDojoism, it's part of the culture.

Here in Western Europe putting up a Dojo chain for example would be a lot harder because we have different business laws per countries and the fact that you can't make a contract for more than a year with a customer (in general).

The culture about MA is very different, In Belgium you can probably count the MA teacher,that actually make a living out of teaching, on your fingers.

And finally you'll find people in the US that are willing to pay more because of the idea that the more you pay the better the service (or MA) here I pay 200€ a year for my training and I can go every day and some people find that expensive!

Comparing the US to any other country is for me a useless exercice, yes you can make generalisation about the U.S. but comparing those generalisation to any other country is just not possible.

I always have a good laugh at people who compare things that may happen in N.Y. for example to things that happen in Brussels, and when they ask why I'm smiling I have to remind them that comparing a 'major' city like Brussels of 800 thousand people to a city like N.Y. of 10 million is a bit silly.

Finally on Bullshidoism we have the same in Europe we do have shitty Krav Magda, shitty karate school and pseudo masters.

Martial Arts is like sex, if you over complicate it with exotic sounding names, theories and principles, you end up fucking yourself in the ass. -Ronin69

I'd like to leave this world like I came into it: Screaming, naked & covered in someone else's blood

Join Date

Dec 2005

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Essex

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3,794

Style

BJJ

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All of the things mentioned I have seen in the UK apart from the fixed term thing. Paying a monthly fee tends to be the done thing nowadays but I've never heard of anyone having to sign a contract for a minimum term.

I signed a one year contract at the local krotty school, it was the only place near me that had Jiu-Jitsu classes. It also like a 5 minute drive from were I live. There is a clause for moving however so if I move 15 miles past were the school is located then I can cancel the contract with no hidden costs. And that's my McDojo experience. Also, it does have XMA, Tiny Tigers, Little Dragons, etc, etc, blah; it's a good thing the Jiu-Jitsu is top notch. The teacher also teaches a lot of Judo so it works for me.

I think i was lucky as far as costs went with my first dojo, which i was with for seven years. There was an initial $20 (nz) signup fee, followed by $10 a month. That covered three 2.5 hour sessions a week, and it was good, hard training.
There were belt testing costs. $20 usually and about $60 when the4 black came around

I signed a one year contract at the local krotty school, it was the only place near me that had Jiu-Jitsu classes. It also like a 5 minute drive from were I live. There is a clause for moving however so if I move 15 miles past were the school is located then I can cancel the contract with no hidden costs. And that's my McDojo experience. Also, it does have XMA, Tiny Tigers, Little Dragons, etc, etc, blah; it's a good thing the Jiu-Jitsu is top notch. The teacher also teaches a lot of Judo so it works for me.

That's pretty much blow for blow my situation actually.
There's a gracie school in town, but it's all the way across town through the highway so it's like forty minutes away.

As well it's the only school that offers Kali as well.
The Kali and Ju-Jitsu are on the level as we occasionally have a BJJ purple belt (also a judo black belt) come in and show us stuff. Like twice a week in addition to the other stuff.

There's a MT BJJ school in town that I have yet to check out that is a feasible driving distance. However I hear the owner is just a complete Kobra Kai dick. Lots of nasty rumors and stuff one of the more prominent being that
he got tapped out by a student once and then when they rolled again he HURT him.

He makes lots of tournament dates. Then never shows.
Never shuts up about how awesome he is.
Sends people into tournaments below rank so that he can collect trophies for the school.